


Curved Wing of a Bird in Flight

by BremenBunny



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animal Transformation, F/M, M/M, i definitely haven't tagged everything, merlin's a merlin, why do i never finish what i start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-02 21:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1061952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BremenBunny/pseuds/BremenBunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin needs a way to protect Arthur from Sophia, but he can’t very well accuse a member of the court of sorcery outright without any proof.  It is for this reason he turns himself into a bird.  Okay, well, the bird bit wasn’t intentional, he had simply wanted to turn into a nightstand or something, but bloody Arthur had to be the one to find him in his feathered state and start talking to him like he was his goddamn pet.  Which he wasn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I swear to god I'm not trying to abandon every single thing I start on my account. It's just... ideas fly away from me once they attack me and leave me bleeding helpless on the ground. WARNING: there will be some spoilers, of course. Small spoilers. Nothing you couldn't see coming after the first 5 minutes or so of certain episodes, especially season 1 episode 7. This has been cross-posted onto my livejournal (username bremenbunny).
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! [anconeus.tumblr.com](http://anconeus.tumblr.com)

Merlin bunched the hood of his cloak closer to his skin as he made his way back to the castle, narrowly dodging the guards in the dead of night.  What was he doing?  Even trying to break an enchantment on the crown prince should not warrant sneaking around in the lower town like some sort of vagrant.

 

How did this happen?  Well, it all started when Sophia, that damn witch (literally!  She has a staff and everything!), bewitched Arthur into falling madly in love with her.  Not that he wasn’t already quite taken with the girl before; Merlin has the tomato stains on his tunic to attest to that.  He hadn’t known for sure of the wench’s dirty tricks until Arthur’s eyes glowed a blood red as he attempted to shove his face into her heaving bosom.

 

All in all, Merlin decided he needed a way to keep an eye on the bloody prince at all times, especially during the night, when Sophia could sneak into his chambers and defile him in his sleep or something.  Unfortunately, even being a manservant didn’t allow for all-hours surveillance, so Merlin had set off to find a way to make himself temporarily invisible.

 

He had confided with Gaius, gesturing wildly with his long arms and making exasperated noises at the old physician.  The man had simply sighed and pressed a piece of parchment and his spellbook into Merlin’s arms.

 

“Make yourself useful and get these herbs for me.”

 

When Merlin began spluttering, he simply raised a knowing eyebrow and said, “You should probably search for a suitable spell while you’re at it.”  With that, Merlin’s pout turned into a huge grin as he bounded out of the room.

 

As he absentmindedly tore at the greenery on the forest floor, Merlin wracked his brain for possible solutions.  He lingered on the thought of an invisibility potion, but the ingredients had been so positively foul that Merlin quickly crossed that option off of his mental list of possible courses of action.

 

So what, then?  He obviously couldn’t hide behind the curtains hoping Arthur wouldn’t notice his presence in the room.

 

And there was a thought.  He could turn himself into something in Arthur’s room with both Arthur and Sophia none the wiser.  The young warlock began to furiously pry apart the pages of the spellbook, looking for a transformation spell.

 

It took him nearly an hour before landing on one particular spell.  Merlin trailed his finger along the lines of ancient text, barely bothering to give the precautions and warnings a read.  When he was satisfied with what he found, he marked the page with a leaf and snapped the book shut with great relish.

 

He reopened the book upon arriving back in his room after evading the guards (who were extremely bad at their jobs.  Honestly, Merlin must have knocked over an entire stall, but the guards paid him no heed).  He began to attempt the the transformation which would turn him into a bedpost or a vase or something equally as unassuming.

 

It was morning when Merlin decided to rest a bit before taking another crack at the spell.  Blearily, he rubbed his eyes and yawned, determinedly squaring his shoulders for one last try.  As he muttered the words of the old religion, he heard a bird’s singing filter in through the window.  His thoughts shifted to the bird unintentionally during the last words of the spell.

 

After a bit of tingling and a brief period of unconsciousness, Merlin awoke in a sea of his own clothes.  What happened?  He tried to push himself up, but he had no limbs.  Had the spell worked?

 

No.  He could still move.  Then what was he?  He brought an arm up involuntarily to scratch at his nose - except his arm had somehow turned into a wing and his nose had melded into a beak.  He wanted to scream, but all he could manage was a pitiful skwawk and a bit of (completely dignified) wriggling.

 

When he realized that he was trapped under his clothes, he had no choice but to wait for Gaius to check on him like he usually did.  Unfortunately, Gaius had told him a few days ago that he would be out on his rounds earlier in order to catch up on his reading at night.  Fantastic.  There was no way for him to recite the spell in this form and he had no hands with which to craft a potion.

 

He helplessly wriggled some more for a good while until he heard heavy footsteps approach his room.  Gaius had come back for him!  Merlin chirped happily, fully expecting a wizened old face to greet him from the threshold of his doorway.  Instead, he was met with a princely sneer and a head of obnoxiously blonde hair.

 

“Merlin!  Must you insist upon proving yourself to be the worst manservant ever?  It’s been an hour since - “  Arthur stopped in his tracks, peering at the shifting pile of clothes on Merlin’s bed.  He quickly pulled the garments away, revealing Merlin in all his bird-like glory.  Of course, Arthur had no idea the bird was Merlin.

 

The prince recoiled for a moment, expecting the bird to fly away at the first hint of freedom.  When Merlin just stood there, cocking his head every once in a while, he realized the bird was going nowhere.

 

“Did my useless servant bring you here?”  Arthur cooed softly.  Merlin had no idea whether to be affronted by the insult or shocked at the sudden show of gentleness from the prince.

 

“Look at you, all speckled and puffed up like you own the place.”  The prince held out a finger for Merlin to presumably hop onto.  He did, preening his feathers on the appendage.  Merlin wasn’t used to this type of treatment from Arthur, to say the least.  He chirrupped happily and rubbed his face against Arthur’s palm.

 

“I’m going to take you back to my chambers to show Merlin what happens when he spends his whole life at the tavern.  See if he ever ditches work again!”  Merlin bristled with anger.  He never even stepped foot into a tavern without Arthur!  Not that the prince needed to know any such thing.  In any case, Gaius needed to come up with a better excuse for his absence than that.

 

Arthur brought his hand up to his shoulder to let Merlin perch there.  He had never shown such interest in animals before.  Why now?  Merlin decided to ignore the abnormality for the moment at the sight of Sophia prowling around the hallways of the castle.  He made haste, fluttering behind a statue, much to Arthur’s confusion.  That confusion slowly turned into an almost drunken state in which Arthur tripped over himself to offer the woman a kiss on the hand.

 

“Sophia, my sweet.  What brings you here at such an early hour?”

 

“I was looking for you, dear.”  Merlin gagged, or would have, if not for the distinct lack of gagging capabilities.  He made a slight choking noise instead.

 

Arthur looked dazed as he led the girl down the hallway.  Merlin had no idea how to do stealth as a bird, so he hopped down from the statue, softening the impact with a few flaps of his wings.

 

He could hear their voices in the distance, but he wasn’t close enough to catch exactly what they were saying.  He hopped closer, hoping he was discreet enough to escape Sophia’s keen eye.  Arthur looked like he would die if he tore his eyes away from hers.

 

“...and so I think it would be a great idea if we escaped to the forest this evening.  You could show me around some, if you wouldn’t mind?”  Sophia batted her eyelashes with the utmost urgency.  It was almost funny how hard she was trying to look like she could even tolerate Arthur.  Almost.

 

“I think that’s a great idea.  I’ll tell my servant to get the horses ready.”  Wow, no insult?  He must really be out of it.  The princess nodded and hastily made her way back to the room like a bat out of hell.  As Merlin alighted on his shoulder, he angrily pecked at Arthur’s cheek.  At once, he snapped out of his daze and smiled happily to himself.

 

“Did you hear that, little birdy?”  Merlin chuckled inwardly at the pet name.  “We’re going to go to the forest.  Alone.  Together!”  Obvious contradiction aside, the prince sounded like a lovestruck handmaiden.  Merlin pecked a little harder at Arthur’s cheek, whistling innocently when a hand came up to bring him beak-to-face with Arthur.

 

“What, do you have some objection to my endeavors?”  Arthur pulled a quite unattractive face to accompany his words.

 

Hell yes he had some objections to Arthur’s “endeavors”!  Merlin accentuated his point by screeching indignantly.  At the shrill sound, Arthur winced and said, “Well then.  I don’t suppose there’s anything you could do about it?”  He smirked, the prat, and set Merlin down on a sill.

 

Merlin wanted dearly to tell Arthur just how ridiculous he looked, talking to a bird.  He also wanted to peck his eyes out.  There was nothing he could do but brood quietly and nip at his feathers.

 

“That’s what I thought.  Now come on, I have a speech to write.”  Merlin flew up to Arthur’s shoulder again, making sure to dig his talons in a little harder than necessary just to hear the prince’s cry of pain.

 

Once they were in the prince’s chambers, Merlin flitted off to rest on one of the bedposts of Arthur’s extremely plush bed.  “So what should I wear?”  Arthur held up two tunics which looked exactly the same, save for their color.  Merlin turned his head in disdain.  “Oh come on, don’t be like that.  Red or green?”

 

It took the better part of an hour for Arthur to find an outfit worthy of his tryst, most of which Merlin screeched and fluttered his wings in a futile attempt to warn Arthur of Sophia’s evil intent.  Of course, Arthur paid no heed and proceeded to choose the red tunic and trousers Merlin had never seen before.  “How do I look, Phoenix?”  Phoenix?  Had Arthur finally gone mad and created an imaginary friend for himself?

 

“Phoenix, yeah.  What a name, eh?”  It took Merlin a few seconds to realize Arthur was referring to him.  Phoenix?  It was a cool name, but he was hardly a brilliant red.  He was certainly magical, though.  With a jerky nod of his head, Merlin approved of the name.

 

“Okay, back to the outfit.  Tell me, do I look devilishly handsome?  Not that I’m ever not.”  Merlin would roll his eyes if he could.  Honestly, Arthur would never be smitten with anyone more than himself.  He gave a particularly loud and disapproving screech and turned to preen his feathers.

 

“There’s no pleasing you, is there?  I’ll say it myself.  My, what a dashing prince I make!”  Arthur tilted his head up to admire himself in the mirror.  Merlin flew over to where Arthur was and bit at the prince’s hair spitefully.  “Don’t act like it’s not true, Phoenix.  Just look at me!”  Merlin looked at the reflection.  Sure, Arthur was dazzling on a bad day, but it didn’t excuse his narcissism.

 

Arthur boosted his ego some more before putting on his jacket.  “I’m off, Phoenix.  Watch the place for me, would you?”  Damn him!  Was he completely daft?  Merlin tapped at a window, searching for a way out.  After a few minutes of fruitless tapping, Merlin came up with nothing but a ringing about his head.

 

That was it, then.  He was going to die here as a bird, lying limp and pitifully on the cold, hard ground.  His wings twitched as he touched down and dropped onto his side.  His only course of action was to attempt screeching as loud as he could, hoping an inept guard opened the door looking for a banshee or something as stupid as that.

 

After a while of screaming, his vocal cords were tender and he heard no footsteps approach the door.  He decided to lay on his back, spread-eagle and resigned to his fate.  Not a second after he gave up, a harried figure burst through the door.  “Is everything okay in here-”  Merlin could make out Gwaine’s luxurious hair and perpetual squint from where he was on the floor.  Joyously, he sprang up and at once threw himself at his friend.

 

There was a brief moment of flailing limbs and less-than-manly noises being made before Gwaine finally settled down and got a good look at his “attacker”.  Realizing it was just a bird, he grinned sheepishly and peered down at Merlin.  “Has the princess made a new friend?”  Merlin flinched when Gwaine’s hand came towards him, but all he did was pet Merlin on the head.  Good god!  Did small animals make every self-respecting man in Camelot a maudlin idiot?

 

Gwaine brazenly picked Merlin up in an uncomfortable position.  The warlock expressed his discomfort by pecking viciously at Gwaine’s hands.  He paid no heed, however, and examined Merlin more closely.

 

“I haven’t seen birds like you around here before.”  Merlin froze, thinking Gwaine was much smarter than he let on.  “It’s alright, since you’re cute.  Why don’t you spend some time with me?  Arthur won’t even notice you’re gone.”  Merlin took it back.  Gwaine was a certified idiot.

 

There was also the pressing matter of Gwaine abducting him.  Merlin needed to protect Arthur, he couldn’t be dragged along at Gwaine’s whims!  He tried as best as he could to free himself of the prison Gwaine’s hands had made, but to no avail.  Honestly, who held any living thing this tightly?  It was as if his friend was trying to squeeze him until he burst.

 

Fortunately, Gwaine finally got the hint and loosened his grip, albeit very slightly.  The small give gave Merlin a chance to struggle out of Gwaine’s hands and down the corridor.  He ignored Gwaine’s cries of “Come back, little bird!” and flew away as fast as he could.  He spotted an open window and wasted no time in escaping through the opening.

 

Once outside, he became breathless at the view he had.  Suspended by nothing but his own wings, he almost floated in the same spot admiring his vantage point.  His mood soured when he remembered what he was outside for.

 

He tried to ignore the thrill of flying freely through the air and focused on finding Arthur in the first place. Come on, you prat, where are you? It shouldn’t be so hard to find a head of obnoxiously blonde hair in the midst of a green and brown forest.

 

Thankfully, he was able to communicate with the birds in the trees, but they weren’t very intelligent.  After a second or two of incoherent babbling they suddenly cocked their head in the direction they saw the prince go in.  After an attempted thanks, Merlin flew off, taking care not to run into (too many) branches.

 

It wasn’t long before he spotted the two all over each other, Sophia leaning against Arthur and looking like she was about to swallow him up.  Merlin certainly wouldn’t put it past her.

 

He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he didn’t really need to.  He was just going to wait it out.  In the meantime, though, he settled for dubbing the movement of their mouths.

 

Oh, Sophia, I love you so!  Let us frolic away together into the plains and get ourselves killed by Cenred’s men!

 

Oh, Arthur, I would do anything for you, even though I’m a conniving bitch and probably want to kill you, although you’re too dense to realize it!

 

Well.  That got old quickly.  At long last, they finally righted themselves and the witch pulled Arthur towards an extremely suspicious-looking cave.  Merlin decided enough was enough and swooped down to attack Sophia, partly with spite.

 

“What - how dare you, you idiot bird!”  To Merlin’s delight, Sophia looked extremely unflattering while attempting to flail around and shoo Merlin away.  Arthur did nothing, probably too goddamn lost in her eyes or something as equally as inane.  He snapped out of his daze when Sophia snapped at him.  “Don’t just stand there like a useless buffoon!  Get this bird out of here!”

 

The prince only had a second of uncertainty before mindlessly following her orders.  Of course, Arthur was much more coordinated than the princess and grazed Merlin slightly.  He was lucky he wasn’t totally struck down and escaped with only a bruised wing (and maybe a bit of hurt pride too).

 

For a brief, terrifying moment, Merlin thought he wasn’t going to be able to get out alive.  Arthur’s eyes were still a terrifying blood red and Sophia smirked self-righteously while just standing there, staff tilted forward slightly.

 

Gods, this couldn’t get any worse.  Nevermind the strange pain Merlin subconsciously felt with every swing Arthur directed at him.  Nevermind the actual physical pain he had to go through just to hold himself up in there air.  Things were going to go south, and fast, if he didn’t get out of there.

 

He wished so much that he had his magic, that he could just kill Sophia right there.  But what could he do?  Weaving his way through the last of Arthur’s attacks, he tore out of the clearing and only made it a few meters before falling to the ground.

 

Closing his eyes felt great, really.  His wing was curled limply by his side, throbbing dully.  He only hoped that someone would find him before he died of exposure in this godforsaken forest.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur ends up asking the king for Sophia's hand in marriage. Much to Merlin's relief, things don't go so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! Hope this chapter makes your day just a little bit easier to enjoy.
> 
> I gave this chapter an extremely short read-over (also, no one has beta'd this), so expect mistakes.

Merlin woke with a start.  How long had he been unconscious?  It was dark out and a thin sheet of frost had already made its way across the greenery and his own feathers.

 

There was nothing to do but to get up and limp back to the castle with the small modicum of pride he had left.  It took a while, but he was eventually able to shake the cold from his feathers and hop around in an attempt to reinstate blood flow to his legs.

 

_I hope you’re happy, you prat,_   Merlin hissed inwardly, wincing as he tried moving his injured wing.  

 

There was no way he could fly, then.  He would have to hop pitifully all the way back to the castle.  Steeling himself, he tipped his beak down and fought the cold wind out of the forest.  

 

It was so quiet.  There were no other birds chirping, no deer rustling in the foliage, no bugs buzzing next to his ears.  There was just the rustle of the grass and whistling of the wind, which seemed to make the silence even heavier.  

 

Merlin must have passed out at least one more time on his way back.  He shuddered awake just outside of the forest, blearily blinking into the rising sun.  At least it wasn’t freezing cold any more.  

 

If he was lucky, which he almost never was, he would find Gaius on his way back.  Of course, he was so unlucky that his bad wing got run over by an errant roll of cheese.  

 

It took at least half a day to get back to the castle, and Merlin had had enough.  Easily slipping through the barred gates, the bird hopped his way up the steps and into the warmth of the castle.  

 

Everything looked different, now that he was at such a low vantage point.  Luckily, the bustle of the castle seemed to be a bit subdued, so Merlin was able to make his way to Gaius’ room without being stepped on.  

 

The door to his and Gaius’ chambers was open, meaning… the physician was out.  Of course.  Merlin plopped down, heaving with exertion, and thought long and hard about what he was going to do next.  There was Gwaine, but Merlin doubted the knight would be able to handle him without doing further damage.

 

There was really only one option: go to Arthur.  Hopefully the prince wouldn’t recognize Merlin as the bird who attacked him and Sophia yesterday; he barely had enough intelligence to choose his own clothes without the help of a bird.

 

After a painful trip up yet another set of steep stairs, Merlin finally stood in front of Arthur’s closed chambers.  He would have to wait until a handmaiden or another servant came to serve him.

 

It really shouldn’t have taken as long as it did.  Merlin didn’t remember being this slow when he was Arthur’s manservant - although, Arthur was always scolding him for his tardiness, which the prince didn’t do upon the new servant’s arrival.

 

Taking care not to jostle his bad wing against the edge of the enormous door, Merlin slipped into the room undetected.  He waited - a long, _long_ time - for the servant to finally leave so he could reveal himself to the prince.

 

Merlin stepped out of the shadows, gave as jaunty of a  chirp, and sidled up to where Arthur was looking over a piece of parchment.  

 

“Oh, Phoenix!  Why don’t you come up here?”  Arthur patted an empty space of desk, looking at Merlin expectantly.  

 

As vehemently as he could, Merlin shook his head, trying to raise his injured wing.  Even though he couldn’t, Arthur seemed to get the message and reached his hand down to help Merlin up.

“What happened to you?  Your wing is all bent up!”  Arthur began to coo, and gods, Merlin couldn’t listen to that without wincing hard.  The prince mistook that for physical pain and at once gently set the bird down.

 

“You stay here.”  Where could he go in the first place?  “I’m going to get Gwen, she’ll fix you right up.”  He was still using that pathetic tone of voice, so Merlin did nothing to acknowledge Arthur’s reassurance and preened carefully.

 

Well, while the prince was gone, Merlin could do a little snooping of his own.  He turned his head and was brought face to face with the paper Arthur was reading.  Underneath the official-looking document, though, there was a worn parchment sticking haphazardly out.  

 

With a few frustrating tugs, Merlin was able to dislodge the surprisingly heavy paper and get a good look at its contents.   _Plans for marriage_ , it read.  Wait, what?  Marriage?

 

That couldn’t be right.  Arthur had more commitment problems than Gwaine, who physically paled when a woman insisted that she stay with him for more than one night.  The warlock read on, not exactly sure of what he was looking at.

 

_Request an audience with father_

 

_Ask for permission to marry Sophia_

 

He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.  Arthur seriously couldn’t be this deep under the spell, could he?  Why would he even write a two-step plan down?

 

That settled it.  Arthur was much more work than he was worth.  

 

The prince walked in just as Merlin finished tucking the paper back in where he found it.  He strode in, Gwen in tow, with a slightly pained look on his face.  No doubt he had to explain why he needed her services.

 

“So?  Where is this bird you’re so fond of, your highness?”  For all her patience, Gwen was looking slightly peeved by having to neglect her duties for a seemingly inane task.

 

“Right there, on my desk.  I think there’s something wrong with his wing.”  The two of them loomed over him, simply staring.  

 

“Your highness, I’ve never seen this kind of bird around here.”

 

“Really, Gwen?  How would you know?”

 

“My father used to take me birdwatching.  I can assure you, this is not a common species.”

Arthur looked like he was contemplating it for a bit, but shook his head.  “No matter.  This majestic creature is hurt.  Make sure he is nursed properly to health, if not by you, then by Gaius.”  With that, he turned on his heel and left his chambers.  

 

Once he was gone, Gwen immediately went all mother-hen on him (in this situation, the saying was much too literal to be comfortable).  “Oh, you poor thing.  What happened to you?”  She punctuated this by none-too-gently lifting his wing to examine it more closely.  

 

“I’ll have to make you a splint.”  She pulled back and rooted through her small sewing kit.  She ended up pulling out a small roll of residual fabric and began wrapping Merlin’s wing in the material.  After a short while, Merlin felt a bit better than he did lying on the cold forest floor.

 

He didn’t realize how tired he had been until Gwen scooped him up, this time more carefully, and started her trip to Gaius’ chambers.  Merlin began to doze off, comforted by the warmth of her hands and the slow rocking motions of her footsteps.  

 

Barely conscious by the time they reached their destination, Merlin stirred slightly as he was set down at the foot of the physician’s bed.  

 

Gwen and Gaius’ conversation was muffled by the rough sheets cushioning Merlin’s weight.  He decided anything important would have to wait for morning and promptly lost consciousness.

 

\---

 

Merlin was woken by the jostle of sheets tossing him around.  It was morning, and he was finally going to be able to ask Gaius for help.  

 

Figuring there was no time to lose, Merlin all but attacked Gaius to get his attention.  It worked after a few failed attempts of running face-first into a table leg and knocking over a bottle full of a powdery substance.  

 

“Ow!  What was that?”  Gaius peered down and Merlin, his face pulled into an even deeper frown than usual.  “Oh, it was you.  Do you need something?”  Really, if Merlin weren’t aware he used to be human, he would think it perfectly normal for people Camelot to think that animals could consciously understand humans.  

 

Fortunately for Gaius, Merlin could understand human-speak.  He simply gestured to the table where they ate breakfast and looked around for a sheet and something to write with.  He ended up using a charred stick on a page torn out from a nearby book.

 

_Merlin_ , he wrote out.  Gaius gasped, nearly dropping the bottles he was rearranging.

 

“Merlin?  Is that really you?”

He nodded, hoping Gaius would be able to discern his expressions.  He resisted the urge to spit out the frankly disgusting stick and continued to scribble out words which were so wobbly they were almost unreadable.

 

_Sophia plans_

 

“What is she planning?”

 

_dont know that witch_

 

“Oh, come now, she can’t be that bad.”

 

_No shes like me_

 

That got a sound of understanding from the physician.  Merlin wrote one last line, unable to stomach the taste of charred wood for much longer.

 

_turn me back_

 

Gaius nodded, going at once to his books.  Merlin was glad that he hadn’t put his daily rounds in the way of helping him out, although the warlock would have understood completely if he did.  He set to work on a slice of bread Gaius had laid out for him, trying to ignore the feeling of restlessness he got from being unable to reach over and help with the research.

 

After a while, Merlin couldn’t bear being confined to the surface he was on, so he chirped his discomfort.  Gaius looked up, eyes glazed, and said, “This is going to take much longer than I thought.  Can you make it back up to your room?”  Merlin nodded and made his way back to his room.  

 

Not a second after he made it to the top stair, he felt rather than heard the slam of the door.  “Is Phoenix here?”  Arthur’s shrill voice was unmistakable.  “Phoenix?”  Merlin could almost hear the eyebrow working its way up Gaius’ face.  

 

“Yes, that’s what I named my bird.”  

 

“ _Your_ bird?”  His tone meant the eyebrows were reaching even higher.  

 

“Yes, _my_ bird!”  Arthur sounded extremely impatient, his foot tapping out an erratic rhythm onto the stone floor.

 

“He needs his rest, sire.”

 

“He can have it in my chambers.”

“If you don’t mind me asking sire, why are you so attached to this bird?”

 

“It’s so that I have something to hold over Merlin to stop him from ditching work all the time.”  He was doing a terrible job of making excuses for himself. “Speaking of, where has Merlin been for the last few days?”  He quickly deflected.

 

Gaius hesitated, almost imperceptibly, before saying, “He’s at the tavern.  He must have had a rough week, your highness.”  Gods, _again_?  He and Gaius were going to have to have words when he turned back.  

 

“Of course he is,” Arthur snorted.  “I’ll be back this evening.  Make sure Phoenix hasn’t wandered off by the time I get back.”  Merlin could _hear_ the prattishness of Arthur’s exit.  

 

Thankfully, Gaius didn’t call for Merlin right after that confrontation.  It was well into the afternoon when the old man’s voice carried up into the spare room.

 

“Merlin, I’ve found it!”

 

The warlock tried to quell the huge surge of hope that rose up within him at the words.  He bounded down the steps, almost using his wings when he realized doing so would probably do more harm than good.

 

“Come here.”  Gaius extended a hand to help Merlin up to look at the book.  “There’s a spell here that you must have marked.  What were you thinking, turning yourself into a bird?”  He scolded, knowing full well Merlin could do nothing to defend himself.  

 

“Go sit on the bed.  I don’t want you breaking anything when I perform the spell.”  Gaius released Merlin onto his bed and began reciting the words of the spell.  

 

Almost instantly, Merlin felt a strange feeling surge up from within his core, pushing out and expanding in a flash of golden light.  He hoped Gaius had the foresight to lock the door, because the screams he was making would probably draw at least one wayward servant.

 

He must’ve blacked out, because the first thing he heard after the spell was recited was Gaius’ voice faintly and urgently calling out to him.

 

“Merlin!  Merlin, are you alright?  You started to scream, and - “  The old man was wringing his hands, face uncomfortably close to Merlin’s.

 

“Ugh - gah.”  Well, he had his voice back.  His head felt like it was on fire, and his throat was constricted and sore.  “Guh - Gaius?”  He blinked a few times and shook his head.  Sitting there, Merlin wanted to simply lay down and die, but he remembered something important.  “I need to go,” he said, hurriedly, and hopped down from the bed.  

“I’ll be back, Gaius.  Hopefully with Arthur alive.”  With that, he slammed the door and practically flew down the halls to Arthur’s chambers.

 

“Arthur!  Are you - “  Merlin was stopped short by the sight of what looked like a love-struck Arthur who was staring out the window, deep in thought.  “...Arthur?”

 

The prince turned slowly, distaste slowly growing on his face.  “Oh, it’s you.  I was wondering when you’d be back from the tavern.”

 

“I never went - “  He stopped himself, deciding a lifetime of being wrongly accused of being a drunkard would be infinitely better than being accused of being a sorcerer and burning on the stake.

 

“And what in the hell are you wearing?  Or not wearing, for that matter,”  The prince waved a flippant hand at Merlin’s woefully underdressed state.  He was wearing tattered pants and nothing else.  Blushing, he grabbed one of Arthur’s sheets and wrapped it around his torso.

 

“Don’t worry about me, sire.  Just - don’t go near Sophia anymore, alright?”

 

“What would you know about the lovely Sophia?  You’ve been drunk the entirety of her visit!”

 

“More than you’d know, Arthur.”  Merlin cast his eyes down, picking at the edge of the sheet.

 

“Leave it.  I’m going to announce to father that I want to marry her.”  Merlin tried hard to act surprised, hoping Arthur’s spell-addled state wouldn’t let him detect that anything was wrong.

 

“Really?  I thought you had better taste than that.”

 

“Shut up, Merlin.”  There was no playful lilt to Arthur’s words like there usually was, just hostility and exasperation.  “I’m going to get her right now.  Go request an audience with my father.”  It seemed that he was done with Merlin, looking back out the window and acting like there was no one else in the room.

 

The warlock shifted awkwardly, reluctantly letting go of the sheet and feeling it pool around his legs.  “...Right.  I’ll - I’ll just be going then, to talk to the king half-naked.”  Merlin slunk out the door and walked to the main hall, trading Arthur’s bedsheets for a slightly grimy tablecloth and slinging it over his shoulders.

 

“Come in!”  Uther’s voice boomed in from the chambers, beckoning him in.  The guards who held spears over the entrance lifted their weapons and let Merlin in.

 

“What brings you - what on earth are you wearing?”  Merlin set his jaw and huffed as the King gawked, calling on whatever gods there were to give him patience.  “Your _highness_.  Arthur would like to talk to you.”

 

Giving him a critical look, Uther nodded slowly.  “He can have an audience with me at once.”  Merlin nodded and got out of the hall as soon as Uther dismissed him, setting the now scrunched-up tablecloth in a confused handmaiden’s arms.

 

Grumbling the whole way back to Arthur’s room, he hugged himself to warm himself from the chill.  It was balmy, but Merlin’s constitution always left him a bit cold.

 

When he arrived at the prince’s chambers, he was about to step into the room when he was assaulted with the sight of Arthur and Sophia all over each other.

 

“Oh, honey, you’d do that?  For me?”  Sophia looked so fake right then, gushing as fervently as she could to keep up her smitten facade.

 

“I’d do anything for you, love.  Merlin should be back any minute to bring us to my father.”  And just like that, Merlin snapped.  He threw open the doors and threw a steely look at Sophia, pointedly ignoring Arthur.

 

“The king would like to see you now,” he said as deadpan as he could.  Sophia was about to speak up, but Merlin cut her off with a sharp smile.  “Don’t ask about the clothes.  Arthur here just got a bit frisky before I asked for the audience.”  With that, he stormed out of the room, not dropping his forced smile until he made it safely back to Gaius’ room.

 

“Merlin!  You’re back?  Arthur didn’t need you to tend to him?”  Gaius barely looked up from his experiments once Merlin made it in.  

 

“No, what he needed was for me to ask the king for an audience for him and Sophia.  They’re getting _married_.”  He spat out the last word with a strange amount of vitriol, even when he knew the sordid reason for the joining.  Gaius nearly dropped the vial he was holding.

 

“Well, boy, we have to go put a stop to this!  What’re you waiting for?”  The physician smoothed himself down, dragging Merlin to his room up the stairs.  “Get dressed and go to the main hall.  I bet you Uther will refuse, but we need to be there just in case he’s been bewitched, as well.”

 

Seeing the logic in this, Merlin sighed and begrudgingly hoisted himself up to grab presentable clothing.  Once dressed, he trudged to the throne room and quietly made his way next to Gaius.

 

“...And so, sire, I request for Princess Sophia’s hand in marriage.”  Merlin hadn’t missed anything important, then.  Uther sat upright, jolting from his usually relaxed position.  “Are you mad, boy?  You’ve only just met!”

 

“I assure you I am of sound mental state.”  There he went, breaking out the polite vocabulary to impress his old man.

 

“You most certainly are _not_.  Now stop all this talk of marriage before I accuse Sophia of sorcery,” the king hissed with a stern glare, challenging his son to object.  Just for this one moment, Merlin felt a bit thankful towards the old bastard.

 

Looking miffed, Arthur made an aborted gesture.  “I - I will do as I like, father.  Come with me, Sophia.”  The prince stuck out his arm for the witch to take and began to stride out, only to be stopped by Uther’s “Guards!”  At once, the two guards at the door blocked the path with their spears.

 

“Don’t test me, boy.  I will do as I say unless you drop this ridiculous notion of marriage.”  Merlin could swear he saw steam coming off of the king’s head.  

 

After a loaded silence, Arthur finally dropped Sophia’s arm and acquiesced.  “As you say, father.”  Not missing the dirty look Sophia gave the prince, Merlin released a sigh of relief and took the king’s returning to his throne as a signal to book it out of the room.

 

He waited for a bit for Arthur to emerge out of the room.  “Arthur, I’m - oh.  Hello, Sophia.”  Smiling tightly, Merlin nodded slightly in her direction.  “Could I… talk to the prince alone?”

 

The smile the princess returned was just as fake.  “Of course, Merlin.  Go _right_ ahead.”  Arthur, of course, detected nothing and artlessly followed Merlin away from his beloved.

 

Once they were out of Sophia’s range of hearing, Merlin pulled the prince into an empty, forlorn room.

 

Snapping, Merlin waved his hand in front of Arthur’s face to get him out of his daze.  “Arthur.  Arthur!”

 

“Whuh - Merlin!  What are you doing?”

 

“That’s not important.  What is important, however, is the fact that you just proposed to Sophia.  Unsuccessfully.”

 

“Right - why didn’t he allow me to marry her?  Can’t he see how much I love her?”

 

“You just asked the king to marry someone you just met, you oaf.  Obviously he would think that you’ve been bewitched.”  Merlin said nothing of the king being absolutely right.

 

“That’s simply preposterous!”

 

“No, not really.  I see where he’s coming from, to be honest.”

 

Arthur looked at him with disbelief.  “You can’t be serious.”  Merlin simply shrugged.

 

“I don’t need you help.  You’re just a servant.  Now leave me, I must talk to Sophia.”  Arthur pushed his manservant out of the way, ignoring his stunned face as he left the room.  Merlin, of course, knew his place, but Arthur had never been quite so blunt or full of vitriol towards him.

 

Sighing, the warlock trudged his way back to Gaius’ chambers.  

 

“No luck?”  Gaius put down the book he was leafing through and pushed his glasses down to stare at Merlin with concern.  

 

“None.  What should I do, Gaius?”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t help you, Merlin.  If Arthur has his mind set to something, it’s likely he’ll go through with it, for better or for worse.  I’m of no help to you.”  The physician sighed, setting his glasses down.

 

Nodding, Merlin said, “I’ll do what I can.  I appreciate you trying, Gaius.”  He’d have to do this on his own, then.  He only hoped Arthur wouldn’t get himself killed before Merlin was able to save the incorrigible ass.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm probably going to be super slow in uploading the next part. Comments are welcome! Any mistakes or general terribleness you wish to notify me of is also really appreciated. I am in all of your debts. *bows deeply* I really don't like this story for some reason. It just got away from me. Don't let my opinion stop you guys from enjoying the fic, though!


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